IFLA/UNESCO Internet Manifesto Guidelines

1. IFLA/UNESCO Internet Manifesto Guidelines

2. CONTENTS • Process • Preamble • Internet Manifesto Guidelines • Glossary • Annexes (e.g. Internet Manifesto) • References

3. Process 1.) The IFLA Internet Manifesto = was endorsed by the Council of IFLA in 2002. = it has been translated into 19 languages and adopted by library associations in 27 countries. Manifesto in general describe shared values, principles of performance and a vision of best practice. In the case of the Internet Manifesto, the value concerned relate to the preservation of freedom of access to information on the Internet. The Manifesto present goals for programs, services and staffing relating to the Internet in libraries. It serves as a model for quantity, quality, extent and level of suitability regarding Internet, access in libraries, and it acts as an idealized template for decisions and actions in the library community.

4. The Internet Manifesto was created out of a perceived need for a document that brought the traditional library values of freedom of expression and freedom of access to information into the age of the Internet. It is a document that reaffirms the library profession’s commitment to these values and their importance in all of the services that libraries can provide. The Manifesto, however , is a broad document, and actually achieving implementation of its values in the workplace requires a little more work than paying lip service to the ideals present in its text. To achieve the aims of the Manifesto something more concrete must be made available to library and information professionals, decision makers and educational leaders – such as a set of guidelines which will help us achieve our goals through a more careful consideration of the issues the Internet Manifesto tackles. • The IFLA/UNESCO Internet Manifesto Guidelines = Guidelines consist of procedures that will prove useful in meeting standards. Although they generally define qualitative criteria and exclude quantitative criteria, guidelines identity factors contributing to program effectiveness and provide recommendations for effective practice in their subject area. The Internet Manifesto Guidelines are specific to Internet access program in libraries,

5. And concern service policies and procedures that will lead to the implementation of the Internet Manifestos values in everyday library work. The guidelines are intended to offer guidance to library and information professionals, policymakers, and politicians in drawing up policies concerning public access to networked information in libraries: they do not, however , have a binding character nor legal implications for those who use them. Instead, they provide a framework for implementation of policies guaranteeing freedom of access to information and freedom of expression on the Internet as well as access to information held by cultural institutions such as libraries. 3. Target Audience and Methodology = This document is aimed at libraries and librarians that provide public access to the Internet. This means primarily public libraries, but the guidelines will also be useful to school, academic and special libraries in formulating an Internet access policy which pays attention to freedom of expression and freedom of access to information on the Internet. Furthermore, the document takes the Internet Manifesto in a new direction by moving towards a character for users, in effect becoming a document prepared by the library community that safeguards and sets out user’s rights to information on the Internet in libraries.

6. For the Guidelines to be a relevant document to all members of the International library community, it was important that a methodology was followed which took into account the needs of those in developing countries as well as those in developed. While Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of human Rights was the fundamental bedrock of the guidelines, the values of different cultures also had to be considered along with questions of cultural bias towards western liberal democratic values. As the development of standards and guidelines is based on an identification of needs and an attempt to maintain contact with the audience to whom the document is directed, the process that led to the creation of these guidelines followed a step – by – step outline which sought to remain focused on the needs of all library users, not just those from developed countries with advanced Internet infrastructure. To this end the process began by conducting a review of existing standards and guidelines for coverage related to our subject area, including criticism of the Manifesto and IFLA itself. Following this, countries were identified which would be able to host workshops on the Internet Manifesto and produce input for the guidelines. Kampala in Uganda (June 2004), St. Petersburg in Russia (March 2005), Havana in Cuba (November 2005) and Santiago in Chile (January 2006) all hosted well organized events, in some instances over two days, that produced a great deal of information into the state of Internet access in the relevant wider regions. Senior professionals from many countries participated in these workshops and shared their knowledge of the problems facing Internet access in libraries and the solutions that can be employed to overcome these obstacles. Following cach workshop the field experiences were analysed and evaluated and the information gathered was assembled into a draft guidelines document. In March 2006 this document was discussed over two days by a group of senior library and information professionals in London and a second draft formulated. This draft was then posted on both the IFLA and UNESCO websites, and its existence advertise, and its existence advertised on various relevant mailing lists including IFLA-L and FAIFE-L. Comments and criticism were solicited and the draft was amended as a result.

7. Overall, the process tried to ensure that participation from all involved parties - - librarians, library associations, policy makers – was fostered, thus ensuring a personal contribution to the results, and those involved in the workshops and the consultation process were given a chance to fully get their points across and experience other s’ points of view. The end result is that the Guidelines are relevant at the level of every player involved and that there is now a systematic approach for implementing the Internet Manifesto. 4. Potential of the Guidelines • The Internet Manifesto Guidelines are imbued with great potential for helping librarians safeguard freedom of access to information on the Internet in the future. It is hoped that the document will be useful as part of LIS (or other) curricula in universities, or that it is used in continuing professional education, or in workshops on library Internet access. The Guidelines could also provide material for information activists and advocates of public access tot the Internet but most importantly they open up the possibility of enabling users to take firmer control of their rights with regards to Internet access in the library.

8. Further to this, following the publication of this document it is FAIFE’s intention to engage in a cooperative project with IFLA’s Regional Offices on equal access to the Internet. The purpose of the project is to help library professionals practically implement and embed the guidelines to advance equal access to the Internet in libraries. The project aims at knowledge exchange through training seminars and workshops targeting all regions of the world-preferably three workshops a year over 3 to 4 years - and job exchange of young professionals with special focus on countries in Africa, Asia, and South America with the lowest percentage of population online. Working with appropriate international partners such as UNESCO’s IFAP (Information for All Programme) and other IFLA bodies such as ALP (Action For Development Through Libraries) and NPDG (New Professionals Discussion Group), a detailed budgeted project description will be developed. • When the IFLA/UNESCO Internet Manifesto Guidelines are placed alongside the previously published School and Public Library Manifestos (and their accompanying guidelines) it can clearly be seen that IFLA and UNESCO have produced three documents which could have great success in helping library and information professionals create library services for the 21st century.

9. Furthermore, the guidelines support the Declaration of Principles of the World Summit on the Information Society which was held in Geneva in 2003 and Tunis in 2005², and they also complement a declaration issued by IFLA during the World Summit on the Information Society process, the Alexandria Manifesto on Libraries, the Information Society in Action³. Both of these declarations stress a people-centered, inclusive and development-orientated society where all can access and share knowledge in an atmosphere of unrestricted access to information and freedom of expression. Against a background of these documents, the IFLA/UNESCO Internet Manifesto guidelines document outlines service policies and procedures which safeguard freedom of access to information for all library users and ensure access to the Internet is free, equal and unhampered by unnecessary restrictions.

10. PREAMBLE Introduction • The IFLA Internet Manifesto is built on the foundation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and it stresses that the library users have the right to expect the same degree of freedom of expression and freedom of access to information on the Internet as they do with print materials. It is a document concerned with updating the fundamental ideals of the library profession for the Internet age. However , to understand why the manifesto and these accompanying guidelines are so important to library and information professionals the legitimacy on which they are built must be examined, in order to show that the two documents have a great contribution to make to librarians all over the world as Internet access continues to increase and play a greater part in day to day library work.

11. Libraries and Human Rights • Since the end o f the 18th century the idea of inherent and universal human rights has grown in popularity around the world. A human right is a “universally recognised legal right which, if not granted, would cause lives and livelihoods of human beings and communities to be impaired or harmed” (Mclver, 2000). Human rights derive from human needs, and they provide a universally available set of standards for the dignity and integrity of all human beings. • The concept of rights is based on equality human dignity and mutual responsibility. The promise of a global human rights consensus emerged after the Second World War, and moved up the International political agenda following the formation of the United Nations in 1945. Notable events following this included the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1946); the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948); the European Convention of Human Rights (1950); the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), and the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966).

12. Cultural differences in access to information One of the problems with a discussion of universal human rights is that there exists a tension between the cultural and developmental diversity of the peoples of the world and a uniform approach that prioritises a perceived western liberal democratic bias over all other outlooks. It must be remembered that with an inequality of development existing worldwide, differences in attitudes to and provision of access to information will be found all over the international library community. There is an important point to make, however, about how different attitudes would still exist even if all countries existed at the same level of development. Differences in cultural attitudes to concepts such as personal freedom and privacy, or what is considered obscene or harmful exist within and across all countries, even developed ones. This situation exists because of cultural differences regarding values. Even the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights has been questioned regarding its perceived Western, Judeo-Christian constructions that may be of little relevance to communities with other beliefs/ideologies. In light of this how can a single Manifesto and an accompanying set of guidelines be relevant to all over the world? Why would IFLA and UNESCO believe that producing such a document was important and necessary? Simply put the introduction of the Internet into libraries has changed the way information resources

13. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948) gives a common framework for the establishment, protection and enforcement of human rights. The concept of freedom of access to information and freedom of expression is clearly outlined in Article 19 of the Declaration of Human Rights: • “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Access to Information • Freedom of expression is the freedom to express what may be extremely unpopular ideas without fear of reprisals, and to the right to protection for citizens wishing to express those ideas. Article 19 allows for expression through ‘any media’, meaning thoughts and opinions can be communicated through speech, the written word, through art of any description or through more modern mediums such as television, radio or the Internet. Freedom of expression includes the right to oppose governments without being considered criminals or traitors, and the right to question prevailing ideas and beliefs widely held to be true, no matter how consequential.

14. Freedom of access to information, on the other hand, is the right of citizens to not only express any views, but also to have access to the fullest range of views expressed. In libraries this means providing access to ideas that librarians might not agree with or find personally offensive. • Libraries are inherently connected to freedom of expression and freedom of access to information because of the information resources they hold, and the variety of services they offer to access them. Libraries, therefore, can take these ideas and make them more realistic. They aspire to offer freedom of access to information through whatever channels they possess – including access to information via the Internet.

15. Are provided to users. The Internet takes the revolution caused by printing one stage further and provides information to the user wherever he is – all that is needed is the appropriate technology. At the same time the Internet continues the revolution in communications caused by printing thanks to the speed and low cost distributing information. The crucial difference, however, is the way the Internet, in its multimedia format, blurs the lines between information provision and consumption. This has changed information provision in libraries by allowing the library user far more control over how he or she accesses information. Prior to the Internet, initiatives such as IFLA and UNESCO’s Universal Availability of Publications (UAP) programme, demonstrated the commitment the commitment of libraries to providing the widest possible access to information. Networks of libraries, at local, nation and international levels co-operated to offer printed publications to users, Internet technology changed this situation and enabled libraries to offer wider access to information than previously, far quicker and, in theory, more cheaply for users. Introducing public access Internet into libraries lets users select information, by passing the librarian as mediator and leaving the user dependent on his own skills at finding information that may or may not be valid. Availability of information on the Internet, therefore, differs from “traditional” library stock in that librarians select the stock to go in their libraries. If selection in a traditional sense were applied to the Internet, libraries would make available only

16. Specific sites actively located, evaluated and added to their systems. On the Internet, no such selection procedures exist. Information is posted to the Web, and then users do the selecting. Librarians can supply bookmarks or recommended sites, but essentially when users sit in front of a library Internet computer they are in charge. In theory, users no longer have to deal with the restrictions imposed on materials selection by budget, bulk ordering, selector bias, or peer review. They are free to find their own way, dependent on their own skills, through the mass of information the Internet has to offer. The process of information retrieval, for both librarians and library users, is therefore now both simpler and more complex than ever before. It is simpler thanks to the speed and simplicity of search mechanisms that return keyword matches in seconds. On the other hand, it is more complex due to the staggering size of the Internet and the lack of organization to found amongst the information online. Growth of the Internet: Opportunities and Challenges One of the reasons for this is that use of the Internet, and the ways that the Internet can be used,

17. Continues to grow rapidly. The growth of users continues around the world, with countries such as China seeing enormous growth in recent years. The growth is aided by advances in communications technologies such as broadband and wi-fi, and by the decreasing costs of hardware, software and connections. This situation has had the added